The title is a bit melodramatic, but this is the morning after my second strongman contest, and I've got some things on my mind.
RCSC 2008 was a great contest in many ways. A great venue, challenging events, and a decent number of competitors. I competed in the 200# weight class, bumping up from the 175# class at Pittsburgh.
First, a bit on my preparation leading into the contest. In all honesty, I think I prepared myself incredibly well for the contest. I cut CrossFit down to 1-2 times a week so I could lift more. And lift I did. I pushed my back squat up another 15 pounds to 350 (a big milestone for me). I trained the events continuously, getting PR's on farmers and stones going in (240 each hand for 100', and lapped a 315 stone with tacky). I figured out how to get the axle from the floor to the rack position without cleaning it, a combination of a sumo deadlift, zercher, and a little magic. I got my rack jerks with the bar up to 220, a decent PR, and worked the olympic lifts.
The first 3 events of the contest went decently well, considering they were all essentially PRs or tying PRs. For the axle clean and press, I got it up to my shoulders twice, though I couldn't make the jerk. For the axle deadlift, I pulled 460, a 10# PR, but I missed 480. On the Farmer's, it was my first time with 250 each hand, and I got somewhere around 70' on my seond drop.
Despite all of this, my standing was terrible. Last place on points. Simply put, my strongest, my PRs, weren't strong enough. On top of that, my contest ended early. The tire was monstrously heavy, after trying to pull it with a narrow stance a few times, I went for sumo. Missed once, missed twice - oops, my left leg was still under the tire when I dropped it! I got pulled under a 787# tired, with an audible pop in my left foot. After getting pulled out from under the tire, moaning a bit, and limping off the field like a soccer player faking an injury, I got the hell out of there. There was visible swelling in my knee and ankle, and I couldn't put much weight on it. No stones for me.
It's an interesting feeling when your best isn't good enough. I'm not down on myself, but reveals clearly your weak points.
-I can't press. My overhead sucks worse than anything. As long as I'm scratching events, I won't be able to get far.
-Event though I can pull decently, it's not enough to be competitive in a 200# weight class.
-My grip isn't that hot. This was a surprise, but it made me goof not only the axle dead but the farmers.
There's much more, but in general, I wasn't strong enough, and there were no lightweight events where my speed and conditioning should shine through. Did I mention I weighed in at 183# in a 200# weight class?
My plan:
Get stronger and bigger. hah! But really, first and foremost, I need to take putting on weight more seriously. I've done it before, I can do it again. It sucks, but whatever. I'd much rather be training hard.
For my training, I'll be following the newest PMenu mass gain program. Essentially I'll be doing push-presses,snatches, clean and jerks, and back and front squats. Mostly 10 sets of 3, with a heavy single on the o-lifts once a week. Percentages start low but increase each week, deload on the 5th week, and finish off strong the last few weeks.
That's 2 months down. October, November, and December I'll spend trying to get my deadlift to 500#, while working on my olympic lifts and pressing. Maybe some event work. After that, I'd be wise to continue pressing like a madman, working on my olumpic lifts, and getting some squat work in. A 400# back squat would be helpful, maybe I'll try the famed Smolov cycle.
March and April - Event work, strength maintenance, and CrossFit. Then I'll try strongman again. And I won't be the skinny guy who looked like an asshat this time.
